2010 December | Live [Simply] Free

12-31-10

a brief guide to life | zen habits

Life can be ridiculously complicated, if you let it. I suggest we simplify.

12-25-10

Christmas Greetings 2010 from Andrew Randazzo

It’s been a good year, the best in my life actually. So much has happened in the past year that it feels like it’s been 2yr. A year ago I graduated from college and was determined to transform my life. It all started with this idea of simplicity and minimalism, and everyone thought I was crazy and that it was just a passing fad. People still think I’m crazy, but now a year later, people are getting the idea that this isn’t just a passing fad.

I started a 1-year internship in January with my church, Calvary Community. It really turned out to be mentorship and it was a huge personal growing experience more than anything else. I also had the opportunity to be baptized in February after realizing I hadn’t been baptized after my true conversion back in high school. Some of the more visible things I did during my internship included organizing fellowships and putting together a kid’s Bible camp.

I also got a job working at Apple which was a great experience and really broadened my horizons in a lot of ways. That job also helped me really get connected to people and things going on in this area. Coming from school where I had built up a large network, now I was back at square one. So, one of my goals was to build up my network.

The beginning of the year was a challenge as I transitioned out of college mode into the young-working-adult-phase. It was a whole new world to me as I learned how to interact and relate with other people in the same phase of life and also the families in my church. I also began defining my life by narrowing down my activities to a few specifics. So, over the course of a year I’ve devoted myself to my church first and formost, my job, and blogging. I also picked up a couple hobbies including swimming and wake boarding.

In the Fall, I made a career change and moved from retail to the medical field as an EMT for an ambulance service. This is the field I plan to pursue. I went through a rigorous application process to get into Paramedic school, and God blessed by allowing me to get in and a full year of medic school starts in January of 2011.

Part of my life transformation was composing a motto for my life, and mine says “Life is what you make it to be, and I choose to live extraordinarily.” There has not been an exception to that, and I can say that everyday of this year has been an incredible adventure. One of those unique adventures was traveling to Kenya for a month in November. The first half was spent by myself and the second half was spent with a group from my church. I documented everyday of that trip and you can read more about some of my crazy stories at Mission:Kenya.

Near the end of this year, I’ve been asking God to put some godly friends into my life, and He has been faithful to that request and I’m beginning to build a core group of friends. So here I am, finally planted in my new phase of life and ready to take on the new year and keep moving forward. Now that I’ve got my feet on the ground, hopefully this coming year will be my time to bloom.

Here’s some pictures for everyone. You can click on them for descriptions. I hope all of you will have a sensational up and coming year. God bless!